BOOK EVENT: AESOP WOMEN'S LIBRARY
Venue: Aesop Suria KLCC
Date: Sept 19 and 20
From mysteries and poetry to food writing and fiction, 25 books by women authors await readers at the Aesop Women’s Library, returning to Kuala Lumpur this weekend.
Held at Aesop Suria KLCC on Sept 19 and 20, the initiative offers visitors a complimentary book from a curated reading list spanning English, Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia, with no purchase required.
This year’s theme, "From Pulse To Page", brings together titles recommended by local bookstores and publishers.
Among the selections are Mona Ali Mysteries: The Case Of The Star Prefect by Puteri Eleni, Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho, Malaysian Food Tales by Afi Sulaiman, Echoes Of Silence by Chuah Guat Eng, Long Distance: Poems by Shivani Sivagurunathan, People Who Pretend To Be Dead Don't Wear Shoes by Fang Ken, I Fed My Kid To A Bird of Prey: Poems For Overwhelmed Parents by Mel Schmitz, Kaki Lima by Shih-Li Kow and Malek Hue, and Yang Paling Patah Antara Kita by Ainul Farihah.
Since launching in Malaysia in May 2023, the Aesop Women’s Library initiative has distributed thousands of free books nationwide.
More info here.
THEATRE: 'THE WHALE'
Venue: Pentas 2, KLPac
Date: ends Sept 20
Samuel D. Hunter’s acclaimed play, The Whale, makes a splash at KLPac this weekend, in an adaptation by The Actors Studio Seni Teater Rakyat.
The title may be familiar to those who watched the Hollywood film starring Brendan Fraser, which won two Academy Awards, including Best Actor. But the film began as a play, premiering off-Broadway before filmmaker Darren Aronofsky adapted it for the screen.
Directed by Christopher Ling, the KLPac theatre production centres on Charlie, a reclusive English teacher who has become severely overweight following the death of his partner.
Living alone, he is cared for by his nurse, Liz, and visited by Thomas, a young missionary. As Charlie approaches the end of his life, he reaches out to his estranged daughter, Ellie, hoping to repair their broken relationship.
The play draws on themes of truth, isolation, forgiveness and redemption, while exploring how people love, hurt, judge and seek connection with one another.
The production stars Sudhan Nair as Charlie, Tania Ashwini as Ellie and stage veteran and jazz vocalist Junji Delfino as Liz. Jae Gomes plays Mary and Asraf Zulk takes on the role of Thomas. Multi-disciplinary artist and puppeteer Malin Faisal, co-founder of Siapa Theatre, has also created a specialised costume for Charlie’s physical portrayal.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: LIM HENG SWEE'S 'CATOPIA'
Venue: PapanHaus, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends Sept 20
It’s the final weekend to catch Catopia, Lim Heng Swee’s second solo exhibition, where the artist and illustrator, better known as ilovedoodle, captures the endearing quirks of cats through hand-drawn paintings.
But these are no ordinary felines. Lim’s cats inhabit fantastical worlds, riding giant waves, basking in psychedelic rays, stretching across horizons, tumbling from the sky or retreating behind shades.
Remarkably, Lim has never owned a cat. Yet his depictions capture their distinctive habits and personalities with uncanny accuracy.
“I don’t think you have to own a cat to appreciate them. I simply enjoy drawing them because they’re so fun and interesting, each with its own little personality. When I look at them, I see infinite creative possibilities,” says the Kuala Lumpur-based artist.
The exhibition features 30 works, alongside a preview of Lim’s sixth book, the wordless picture book Le Voyage.
More info here.
EXHIBITION: YEOH CHOO KUAN'S 'SHAN SHUI AS CAMOUFLAGE'
Venue: Richard Koh Fine Art KL, A Place Where (APW), Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Oct 18
After nearly eight years, abstract artist Yeoh Choo Kuan returns to Kuala Lumpur with a compact series that places classical Chinese landscape painting (shan shui) in dialogue with camouflage.
Rather than depicting nature literally, shan shui arranges and obscures mountains and water to create relationships between forms.
Yeoh draws on a similar principle, blurring figure and ground until stains, drips and folds suggest landscapes before dissolving into abstraction.
Using his “fleshing abstraction” approach, Yeoh spills, drips and scratches paint across textured surfaces. The resulting works explore both the spiritual and disruptive qualities of landscape, where gestures simultaneously construct and fracture the image.
Alongside Yeoh’s new works, the exhibition features two paintings by Liu Kang (1911–2004) and Cheong Laitong (1932–2022), on loan from a private collection.
More info here.
THEATRE: SARAH RUHL'S 'EURYDICE'
Venue: The Studio, Jeffrey Cheah Performing Arts Centre (JCPAC), Sunway Square Mall, Selangor
Date: ends Sept 20
In this poignant and beautifully crafted production, Eurydice is a reimagining of the classic Greek myth of Orpheus's journey to the underworld to retrieve his lost bride through the eyes of its heroine.
Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl and directed by award-winning theatremaker Ghafir Akbar, Eurydice is a deeply moving meditation on love, loss and how impossibly hard it is to say goodbye.
But don't expect a heavy, gloomy night out – filled with contemporary characters, playful touches and inventive visuals that only theatre can pull off, the show swings wildly between very funny, deeply strange and ultimately heartbreaking.
At the centre of it all is actress Vinna Law in the title role, marking her long-awaited return to the Malaysian stage after building her career in London.
Playing a deliciously mischievous chorus of the Underworld are three of Malaysian theatre's most distinctive voices: Jo Kukathas, Anne James and Sukania Venugopal. They are joined by stage veterans Gavin Yap and Terence Swampillai, as well as rising talent Tinesh Janaki Raman as Orpheus.
More info here.
THEATRE: 'SOCRATES IN D# MINOR'
Venue: Pangkin@EJKLS Seni, Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur
Date: ends Sept 20
Looking for something to stimulate the brain? Theatremaker Asyraf Shahir's latest production Socrates In D# Minor can scratch that itch.
Told across four episodes, the experimental play uses scientific theories such as The Big Bang Phenomenon and Fermi's Paradox as vehicles to explore existential philosophy and the subjective realities of human experience, asking some of humanity’s oldest questions: Why are we here? And what makes us human?
Bringing together talents from both the English and Malay indie theatre scenes, the show features Nandagopall Mohan, Amaliyna, Ameenol Suhri, Harshini, Eunous Madeonus and Suba Magas in multiple roles.
Through highly physical performances alongside live music, sound, movement and experimental visuals, the cast brings the production’s complex interplay of scientific theory and existential philosophy to life.
The play is presented mainly in Bahasa Malaysia.
More info here.
